Insights from England’s Most Recommended Home Care Provider

In a series of blogs supporting 5 videos recently recorded, 7 UK Care Provider CEOs discuss their Workforce observations and learning through hindsight. Introduced by John Pollaers and coinciding with the release of his Australian Workforce Strategy Report as well as the Royal Commission into Aged Care, their feedback is both candid and instructional.

Whilst recommendation and referral are critical in an empowered consumer market, Martin Jones, MD of Home Instead Senior Care, is focused on the long game as they seek to become the UK’s ‘Most Admired’ service provider by ‘changing the face of ageing’. With 200 offices in the UK, Martin is joined by Gail Deveraux–Batchelor, one of their franchise owners, for both a national and local perspective.  The Workforce strategy, whilst based on 3 key points has clear connections to their commercial and growth agenda:

Self-reliance and local engagement
The introduction of ‘Choice into Social Care’ was hugely disruptive.  From the early stages of the UK’s Person Centred Care they saw a responsibility to support all players through a change process.

• Clients and families;
• Staff and where appropriate their families;
• The regulator- significant national and local interaction about the regulators need to change;
• The local community (through education, engagement and information).

 
Talent, Training and Enablement
To change the face of Aged Care you must change the face of the Carer:

• Find the right ones and empower them. Know what you want in staff and what staff need to deliver services. Caregivers are the life blood of your business.
• Build-in additional touch points with staff.
• Finding quality people is hard; keeping them is harder.

 
Education
The Home Instead Institute was created to provide training to theirs’ and competitors’ staff, as well as the public. Through education operational standards are lifted, the value of Social Care is elevated in the community, which attracts new talent to the sector.

• Enable caregivers
• Career paths clarified / identified for all learners
• Community engagement /change the perception of a career in Care

​As an example of Community Engagement, 40,000 people from a variety of backgrounds - retail/business/banking/government - received free dementia training.

Home Instead is a successful business with low staff turnover and a strong reputation for service, quality and compliance. Whilst a franchise model obviously encourages local management and responsibility the central theme of CDC, putting the client at the heart of decision making, requires empowered staff at the front line, dealing with client needs, engaging with and drawing staff from the local community. 

Watch the full video with Martin Jones and Gail Devereux-Batchelor as well as the other UK CEO videos

​These reflections on a CDC environment videos and blog posts were created in a partnership between Altura Learning, Care Advantage Behavioural Screening and Neil Eastwood’s Recruitment Masterclass. The input from the 7 UK business leaders has been invaluable and the time and effort they have put in much appreciated.